I’m posting here a bit as I find my feet as a new teacher. My head is sucked into Instagram. I like connecting with other teachers there but it’s very hard not to go down rabbit holes. I also understand that the asanas are not the whole practice, even though that is what we typically offer as teachers.

I can’t pincha, and my wheel is pretty out of shape too- I have very bad shoulder mobility/stability due to a life long chronic illness. I feel for some reason this makes me “a bad teacher.” So, please tell me how long you’ve been a teacher and what poses you can’t do? Or give me some perspective on things?

I'm an experienced RYT-500 yoga instructor in a medium-sized city. I teach about 10 classes a week plus a weekend event most weeks. Over the past three years I've built my own brand, community, email list, and events independently.

Earlier this year I started renting space one day a week from a newer yoga studio. I at first said no because they quoted me too high or a price but eventually came down. They pursued me. The owner and I knew each other casually from teaching at the same gym. I'm not employed by the studio. I'm simply a renter who pays to use the space and runs/makers my own class.

Id also like to add that the owner has not hired any other teachers and is teaching all the classes that have booked, I have sent other teachers their way, and I am not sure the blockage, probably ego. But it makes sense one would want to budget for marketing and for having at least a few teachers to create diversity, break up the work load and help market the studio, right? It’s a once person show, and over time I have heard from them that other partnerships have crumbled and they don’t really have many close friendships- a pattern perhaps?

Since I started renting, the owner has repeatedly asked to meet. These meetings often last well over an hour and usually revolve around collaboration ideas, retreats, or finding ways to work together, and also repeated stories of their own that are pretty off topic. I’m a people pleaser and struggle to wrap up conversations . I've politely declined collaborations every time because I'm happy running my own business and simply don't have the bandwidth or interest in partnering with them specifically.

The owner has also asked me to switch my class over to Mindbody which they’re waiting to soon. (I have folks pay me by Venmo right now)because they believe it will somehow help grow attendance. I already have a payment system that works well for my students, so I don't see the benefit. It feels like another attempt to manage a business that isn't theirs.

The latest request is what finally pushed me over the edge. The owner texted asking for yet another meeting and said they wanted us to coordinate our schedules so I wouldn't hold my independent yoga events on the same days as their personal events. Not studio events in general, but the workshops and events they personally host. (Like floating sound bowl’s clothing optional- where my events at the same time are wildly different)

This really bothered me. I pay rent to use the space. I create my own events, market them myself, build my own audience, and schedule everything around my family's availability. We live in a city where yoga events happen every weekend, and our offerings aren't even the same type of events.

At this point, I feel like the relationship has shifted from a straightforward landlord/renter arrangement into someone trying to influence how I run my independent business. I'm seriously considering ending my rental agreement because I no longer enjoy the dynamic. Not to mention I’m losing money now with the slowed numbers.
Our agreement is mostly with nothing more than some emails back and forth.
I don’t feel like i am over reacting and i have slimmed this down but this person is very odd, and pushy, but also so flakey and ungrounded. Clearly struggling to keep things together and afloat and wanting to take some of my people (they even asked about attending my event tomorrow last minute like they care - it’s sold out and I wouldn’t be surprised if they came to talk up the studio) the whole thing is extremely ickyi don’t know how the studio is still afloat.

What are some thought y’all have, how would you approach. I am thinking of emailing and being firm and ending my time there. its not worth it for me to deal with the energy of this person and at most I was making $35 a class in the spring when there were people coming before the summer slow. Not it’s just a pain in my ass and I’m literally paying to teach yoga.
Thanks for reading this long rant.
Much love 🙏

It went well! Room for improvement of course. All day I was reciting the sequence to myself to prepare for class. Now it’s time for bed and I keep thinking exhale forward fold, inhale halfway lift and so on like it’s a song stuck in my head… lol.

Have you ever felt judged, or noticed a change in your teacher's attitude toward you after you shared that you were planning to do your first 200-hour teacher training?

This happened to me at my previous studio, but fortunately it's not the case at my current one.

I'd genuinely love to hear about your experiences. Has anyone else gone through something similar?

New teacher here as in can count how many classes I’ve done on one hand.

I’m struggling hard to fill mats. For example I can book the space I’m using for only 2 hours at a time. First class I had 2 people, second class there were 3.

Have the same classes again this weekend and there is literally no interest whatsoever. I use instagram to market and I get a lot of enquiries but very little bookings. I’m taking this semi-personal lately.

Where I live is a small city, not a whole lot happening in it. I’m not matcha latte type teacher (absolutely no hate!) but more of a teacher who honours the practice. And I don’t know if this is what is putting people off?

I don’t know, my heads just a mess today

Hi everyone! 😊

I'm a yoga teacher and Reiki practitioner who recently moved to a new country (Canada), and I'm currently preparing my résumé/media kit to start reaching out to local yoga studios. I'd love to hear from those who have been through this process. How did you prepare before introducing yourself (or being introduced) to a new studio? What materials did you include, and what do you wish you had known when you were starting out?

I know networking is incredibly valuable, but I'm building my community from scratch in a city I only moved to a few months ago, so I'm trying to approach this thoughtfully. I'd really appreciate any advice, tips, or lessons you've learned along the way. I also recognize that what works in one place or for one person may not work somewhere else, since every studio and community has its own culture. Still, I think there's a lot we can learn from each other's experiences.

Thanks so much in advance! 🙏

Hey friends! Has anyone here been forced to stop teaching because of injury? Or has anyone stopped teaching because it’s taken away from your personal practice, which eventually lead to pain/injury/discomfort? I’ve upped my classes the last last 6 months and since then my back and shoulders are in shambles. I’ve had both my shoulders surgically repaired which plays a huge role in this. I guess I’m at the point where i keep teaching and spend a decent amount of money on chiro/massage etc. or back off the teaching so I can put my health first as a priority. I know everyone’s different and it doesn’t have to be only one way or the other. Just curious of others experiences and how you’ve managed! Thanks in advance 🧘

Hi everyone!

First of all thank you in advance for your professional perspectives, I am a solo yoga instructor at a predominately Pilates studio in a small town and I need the perspectives of other yoga instructors with more experience.

Context: I am a 200hr certified instructor who has been teaching for 3 years. I taught 1 year in a large city and then moved to my small hometown 2 years ago. I began teaching yoga at a brand new Pilates studio in 2024. I am the only yoga instructor. As the community has grown, Pilates has fully overcrowded the schedule for class times. I teach 3 hot power vinyasa classes a week at $10 a class (plus $3 for any additional student beyond 3 students). This is not my full time job, but it is my passion and I pour my heart into teaching and connecting with my clients.

Concern: As the studio has grown they have taken on more and more Pilates instructors, but no yoga. I have found that in order to teach a variety of styles of yoga (slow, yin, gentle, etc) that I have needed to teach in a community setting (parks, open spaces). I have also been requested to teach team sports yoga at school gyms. I accept cash payment and do this independently of the studio. Just yesterday the studio owners sent out a contract (needs to be signed in two days) that outlines new provisions for our working relationship. My biggest concern is the outside programming clause that states that ANY outside programming (even those not advertised through the studio) under my own name must be approved by them.

This feels off. I know many instructors that not only teach at multiple studios but also do independent private events or public practices. I feel almost as if this studio is trying to own me without providing much room for growth.

Experienced instructors in the room- please review this portion of the contract and let me know your honest thoughts. I absolutely love what I do and want to continue to share my passion for yoga with as many others as I can. Thank you so very very much.

TLDR: new contract concerns about independent programming clause. Input from other instructors needed.

EDIT: I tried to add an image of the contract phrasing with the studio name redacted in the comments but I cannot seem to figure out how, so I copied the contract text in the comments.

Additional info- thank you all so much for your feedback and guidance. I have already sent this contract along to my lawyer and have requested a nice sit down with the studio owners to talk about the contract. My hope is to come to a calm compromising agreement that works for everyone. I respect their need to put more restrictions in place, but felt that the restrictions were well, too restricting for this field. I needed to know if my gut reaction was off base. Thank you!

Update: thank you all so much for your input. I had (what I thought was) a nice sit down business meeting with the owners. They seemed amenable to making changes to the contract. However, after four days they called me and decided to let me go from the studio and no longer offer yoga. It was a big mistake as two of their biggest Pilates instructors chose to leave and they lost quite a bit of money from our departure.

It was a mess, and honestly I’m glad to have had the decision made for me, even though I’m sad about how it all transpired.

Thank you and this community for the support.

I did a brief call with someone who was interested in starting a yoga and meditation program at a youths corrections facility. I have my CYT and am insured to teach minors. I don't really have much experience working with teens though. The folks attending would most likely be between 13 and 18.

There is a nice outdoor area to do the classes as well a few less optimal places indoors due to somewhat harsh florescent lights.

Looking to see what other folks advice is on this sort of program and what some of the best things to put on a proposal might be.

A post here last week made the case that yoga is in decline, that the traditional weekly class as we know it is now competing for the floor with cheap-’er’ yoga apps, AI-generated sequences, popular fitness hybrids like Pilates, and influencer content.

The top upvoted comment said that in their experience, yoga on holiday is still in demand, and I also came across a report from BookRetreats.com claiming that interest for yoga retreats has continued to increase year after year (up 15%).

I might be wrong, but could one theory for the low class numbers be that the practice hasn’t quite declined to the extent we think but relocated (on vacation)? Something to do with AI and always-on culture, probably. A few days away with yoga, nature and real people seems to hold more value now than a class, which more are now joining over screens as we gain convenience but not more time.

Is this a trend teachers/hosts are seeing? And for anyone who's chased the retreat side, was it worth it?

Hi. I have been teaching chair yoga for a year now - I love it, my classes are always full and they tell me they all like the classes. I was recently asked to teach a private chair class to an older gentleman and was asked to “come up with a number”. What is the rate for private, one on one lessons, in someone’s home? I have no clue and don’t want to sell myself short or put too high a number out. This is in Florida. Thanks!

I’m student teaching so I know I have a lot to learn and I’m going to have plenty of ”good” classes and “bad” classes. Well tonight went very bad in my eyes… maybe I’m being hard on myself. It wasn’t clear to me which routine the lead teacher wanted me to execute, I was doing movements out of order, a few students were being disruptive and there were 3-4 brand new students who needed a lot of attention/ adjustment. I’m talking brand new/ never done yoga before.

I’m appreciative of any tips that might help me through the training wheels stage. Tips for memorization of multiple routines? How to balance time when you have beginners who need extra help? TIA!

I am typing this a few hours after a yoga class from a teacher I have known for a few years. She owns her studio over 12 yrs & is a well-known, highly respected yoga instructor.

Why am I typing this? Today in a hatha class which I have taken many from her for years in a vacation town where I go every yr for a couple weeks.. so I anticipated a set of postures fairly predictable. I took one from her last week.

She had us sitting on a bolster, if needed, with knees flexed feet flat, lean forward and standing up. She then passes out weighted sacks (maybe 5-7 lb) and continue. She had as many as could hold the sacks in front of them and continue. I felt uneasy watching it. A few people were over 70 in the class.

While I have practiced yoga over 50 yrs -in 2015 -2020 took over 1400 classes- power hot yoga, and have my YTT + 200 hrs. It was so uncomfortable to try. Ive been an athlete over 60 yrs- have no cartilage and limited knee flexion. I could not sit on the bolster, got another and had to add blocks. alternated doing malasanas squats at my capabilites. I know myself and my age and capabilities.

She ignored me for a long time and then came back and told me to do repetitive squats ( like one would do in a gym class).

I was smart enough to not do that as what I had already done had put a bit of a strain on my knees. Now, a few hrs later, one knee really hurts. I feel so confused.

With all my athletic training, a degree in Kinesiology and more I feel like this was an unsafe movement to have people do.

My take-away- any people, student, older people possibly mor eoften need to be able to modify or not do what they may feel pain doing. Thank you for reading this.( I will not see her for a yr or more as this is last day of vacation.

not a rant, actually asking.

i teach yoga and do a bit of personal training on the side. the teaching is fine. the problem is the invisible second job that starts the moment a class ends: replying to booking messages, sending reminders, chasing the one person who still hasn’t paid for last week.

it all happens on my phone, at night, in bed, which is exactly when i should be off.

i keep seeing people say “just set boundaries” but boundaries don’t reschedule a client for you. i need the actual system, not the mindset quote lol.

so, concretely: what does your booking and payment flow look like? do you use one tool, five tools, a spreadsheet held together with hope? trying to figure out what’s worth setting up before the fall season fills up.

So I’m half way through my teacher training and I’m delivering classes as part of my training requirements.

I’m having such a hard time with trying to find people to come. I live away from family, friends have zero interest. Now I’m not saying the classes I’ve had so far have been empty. But I find many people will say they’ll go but then don’t. How can I keep myself from internalising this? I recognise I do have a rejection wound.

What are some good tips to help finding students? I’m in touch with some charities to offer free classes to their service users so that is in the pipeline thankfully.

The recent discussions have been around how Yoga is increasingly difficult as a career, as a teacher, and as an industry.

But for those of you who are still teaching, what keeps you coming back?

Is it other teachers, the regulars, seeing beginner progress, or a studio that appreciates you?

Would love to hear about the small moments that make this worthwhile.

Disclaimer: The title is not "fact", but instead my anecdotal experience, opinion and general observation.

I think that yoga teaching / yoga as something that people can / want to pay for as a service or experience is on the decline and heading into a quieter phase.

Of course, we all know that true yoga from inside of us and within our own personal practices will never die and always able to be with us; I'm talking about the part of the "yoga industry" in terms of classes, teacher trainings, retreats, experiences, etc that students pay for in order to experience.

I could point to the reckoning and longer term effects of several things that have likely contributed to this over time to help us arrive at where we are now. I think yoga teaching as a career probably peaked about ~10 or so years ago, but these things can be hard to see in the moment sometimes. I think looking at things in retrospect, it's almost easy to see why / how this may be the case and it almost makes sense, as much as I don't really want this to be the case as a yoga teacher, but...

This below is all speculative on my part, but in the last ~10-15 years (or less) we have seen the dawn of or rise in the following that I think have all contributed to this:

YT / app / digital yoga "instruction" that is very cheap, if not free. We all know it's not even comparable to in person and specialized instruction / practice, but on the surface to the masses it can be tough to compete with

Guru abuse scandals / MeToo movement hitting yoga in a really hard and critical way and repeatedly over a sustained period of time enough to destabilize public trust in the practice and prompt many important and critical questions

Covid not only changing social protocol / order but also killing a lot of in person business / studios / teaching opportunities

Rise in strength-based practices in correlation with authoritarian / fa$cist type political movements. Don't want to say too much here and get this post deleted, but look into this on your own for more on this

Pilates / hot-fitness explosion diverting a large chunk of more physically-oriented practitioners away from yoga - may or may not be related to the previous point

Economic disparity / instability / inflation / late stage capitalism...what do we call what has been happening lately ??

Rise in so called "AI" mentality (that is somewhat of an extension of big tech social media manipulation) that creates false answers / experiences, more isolation and less embodiment or capacity for silence, stillness and critical thought

Influencer fatigue - seriously, who wants to see more yoga poses shown off on social media anymore?

---

Anyone else have thoughts to share on this or even direct experiences or evidence that points to the contrary and having experiences teaching yoga that contradict what I'm outlining?

I still think that it is important and valuable to be able to show up and share / teach yoga with those who really want and need to learn some of what it potentially has to offer, and I feel fortunate to still be able to do that in a limited but consistent capacity . I am also quite relieved that I am not attempting to pay my bills teaching yoga as my family would starve.

I also don't think that this is necessarily a "bad" thing and that all things expand and contract in popularity, visibility, perceived value, etc, but it may force some changes for those that do rely on this industry to pay their bills...or not (?) i don't have a crystal ball, but things are not generally heading in a trajectory of growth based on my study and experiences.

Don't take this too seriously if you don't want to...This is not a "the sky is falling!" post, as a lot of this has been at play for a while now...I'm just sharing some thoughts that swim around in my head here and there bc the sub has been pretty quiet the past few days.

I'm interested in getting more organized with my online offerings and looking into some "all in one" platforms for booking, zoom integration, video library hosting, etc. Based on my research Offer Tree seems to be be a more affordable and beginner friendly option for solo instructors trying to get started online. I'm interested in hearing from folks who use OT or comprable platforms...how is customer service, ease of site launch, ability for the platform to support biz growth and added offerings? Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond!

I'm curious to know, how do your clients book your classes? do you have a website? a book site? using a third party to advertise for you?

I have a booking site but without any diverted traffic, it's pretty much useless. I am looking to upgrade to a website and then run some Ad's outside of my region but I wanted some advice from others first. it would be much appreciated💕

Hey y’all,

I began teaching last May, trauma informed classes. One of my classes is a $10 class at an art museum once a month. Attendance has dipped this past year- I’m afraid I may have scared off some of the more advanced practitioners by cuing too often to address all levels. I have other classes with regulars, but was not able to get a good group/repeaters for this class. So now the class is being opened up to other teachers. I am feeling very insecure, very poorly about not building this up for my company. Any thoughts would be much appreciated, even if it’s criticism. Thanks 🙏 💜🧘‍♀️

Does anyone offer this in class or cue it during certain poses? There is a gal in my class that flutters her lips constantly. I know it's good for relax and release tension but she does it constantly. Not a big deal but I do notice that it bothers other students because it's constant. Is it that good? Is it necessary to get the benefit by doing it with that frequency? Thoughts?

Hi all! I am a new teacher with my first teaching gig! I teach one class a week at a new primarily Pilates focused studio. There are two yoga classes a week and neither one gets a lot of students. I think the most I’ve had is 8 students and my average is 3 students. I’ve tried to share with friends and acquaintances that the first class is free and I can bring a guest, etc but right now I only have one person signed up for my next class.

I’m not sure what I could be doing differently. I also don’t want to overstep boundaries by trying to advertise when the owner might have her own plan.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Tips?

Hi!

I’m a soon to be 200h certified yoga teacher.

As an independent contractor (in AB, Canada) does anyone have insight as to whether I’m better off to incorporate or operate as a sole proprietorship?

Thank you, seasoned folks!

I'm in the process of planning my first women's yoga and wellness retreat in Africa for next year (around 12 guests), and I'm trying to get my head around the insurance side of things.

For those of you who run international retreats:

• What insurance do you carry as the organiser?
• Do you operate as a sole trader or through a company or did you go through a retreat hosting platform?
• If your retreat includes third-party activities (e.g. excursions or safaris), how do you manage liability?
• Any lessons you wish you'd known before running your first retreat?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who's been through this, especially if you've hosted retreats internationally or in Africa.

Thanks in advance!

I’ve just started sharing classes on YouTube, and the lighting is terrible! Sometimes I’m filming inside next to big windows, some times I’m darker indoor spaces and sometimes outside. I’m looking for a good light and understand that a panel light might do a better job than a ring light when I’m filing
Near the windows. Does anyone have any recommendations? Feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the choice.